


Nico, Will, and the Stolen Fleece

by shnuffeluv



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Boys Kissing, Developing Relationship, Fights, Gay Nico di Angelo, Getting Together, Gift Fic, Happy Nico di Angelo, M/M, Nico Di Angelo Has Panic Attacks, Nico di Angelo and Will Solace are Dorks, Scheming, Secret Crush, Sneaking Around, Will Solace is a Ball of Sunshine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-09-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:26:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 10,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26573701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shnuffeluv/pseuds/shnuffeluv
Summary: A feud has been brewing in Camp Half-Blood for weeks. Nico and Will hatch a plan to stop it, but will they succeed in stopping the fight? And will Nico ever admit that he's very gay for his partner in crime?
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 10
Kudos: 63
Collections: Fandom Trumps Hate 2020





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lincyclopedia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lincyclopedia/gifts).



> Big thanks to HermoineGirl96 and FandomTrumpsHate! It's because of them that this fic exists!

Twenty nine days. For twenty nine days this stupid feud had been going on, and Nico was sick of it, pure and simple. No one even remembered who had started what by this point, but the Ares cabin was fighting with Athena, Hermes cabin wasn't talking to Aphrodite, and Chiron, poor Chiron, was running himself ragged just trying to keep the peace.

Nico narrowly dodged a stray piece of food being thrown across the dining pavilion and fell into his usual seat with a grumble. Something needed to be done to fix this. He picked at his food, looking around. Everyone was sitting in their usual groups, but there was a dark atmosphere haunting everyone, making everything seem darker than it usually was. Nico resolved that he was going to get away from everybody after lunch. He needed the break that some time alone would give him.

Nico walked to the lake on his own the second he was done with his food, hands shoved in his pockets. He enjoyed the break from all the glaring and arguing and whatever-else people had decided to do during the feud. He took off his shoes and socks as he got to the edge of the lake, and considered going for a swim. It wasn’t like he had anything better to do, and he needed an excuse to not be around the others still.

Footsteps came up from behind him and a familiar voice asked, “Quiet out here, isn’t it?”

Nico inwardly sighed. “Hi, Will,” he said.

“Hey, Nico,” Will responded, sitting down next to Nico and staring at the lake. Reluctantly, Nico sat down next to him. Talking to his crush always left him feeling flustered. He didn’t want to come out here to relax only to have his crush come up to him and make him a nervous mess. “What are you doing out here?”

“Trying to get away from people,” Nico said with a shrug. “I’m tired of the stupid feud going on. I need a break.”

“I can relate to that,” Will said simply. “It’s tough. No one is even willing to  _ try _ talking to anyone else, and over what? Nobody even remembers how this whole thing started!”

Nico sighed and nodded his agreement. He and Will hadn’t been able to talk much lately, considering that the other Apollo kids were always around Will and wanted nothing to do with Nico since Nico had helped someone from the Athena cabin during the fued. This was the first time they had spoken more than a couple words to each other in weeks. And it was about the feud. When Nico would rather talk about  _ anything _ else.

“Do you think we’d be able to stop it?” Will asked softly, sighing as he continued to stare at the lake.

Nico turned to look at Will. “What?” he asked.

“The feud. Do you think we’d be able to stop it?” Will asked, glancing at Nico.

“I mean, I don’t know.” Nico shrugged. “I guess it’s always possible. But it would take a lot of work, and I’m not sure I’d want to do all that alone.”

“I said ‘we,’ not ‘you,’ Nico,” Will pointed out.

“Well, yeah, but your brothers and sisters aren’t exactly thrilled with me, and they’ve been trying to keep you away from me for the time being. It’s kinda not great,” Nico said. “I don’t think you’d be able to get very much done.”

Will looked vaguely surprised. “Hey, I know they’ve been antagonizing you but I’ve been trying to get away from them so that we could talk a little more,” he defended. “I’m not trying to avoid you, and I certainly wouldn’t want you trying to stop the feud all by yourself.”

Nico groaned. “Yeah, but—”

“—Look, Nico,” Will said. “I know that something’s up with you beyond the feud. And I want to help with that. But in order to do that, I have to be able to talk to you alone without worrying about any of my brothers or sisters. Because I know they’ve been trying to keep us apart. But I care about you, man. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

Nico fought the blush that was crawling up his face at that comment. He really,  _ really _ hated crushing on anyone, let alone a literal ball of sunshine whose only goal was to make sure that the loner kid was okay. “How do you propose that we get everyone to stop fighting, though?” he asked. “I’ve tried getting people from the opposite sides to work together, but nothing has worked.”

“I have an idea,” Will said, biting his lip. “But you might not like it.”

Nico groaned. “I know I won’t, if you’re telling me like that,” he said. “Say it anyway.”

“The fleece,” Will said, turning to face Nico fully. “If we can snag the fleece and hide it somewhere in the camp, we can get different teams looking for it. Teams that make up each of the feuding parties. So we get some people from Hermes and Aphrodite together, maybe throw in Ares for good measure. Figure out who would work well together despite the feud. Make it so that they have to work together in order to find it. If we can keep them from finding it for long enough, everyone will band together. And, once they’re working together, we can leave it someplace that they can find it, we put it back on the tree, happy days all around.”

Nico blinked. “You’re right. I hate that idea.”

“Do you have a better one?” Will asked.

“Absolutely not,” Nico said with a sigh. “That’s probably our best bet for getting anything through the others’ thick skulls. But this is going to be absolute torture and I do not look forward to learning all the places we could conceivably hide the fleece in order to get everyone looking and yet be unable to find it.”

“So you’ll do it, then?” Will asked.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll do it. I won’t be happy, but I’ll do it.”

Will nodded and stood, offering Nico a hand. “Shall we walk around and find good hiding places, then?”

Nico took Will’s hand. “Let’s get this over with.”

Walking around Camp Half-Blood with Will was, admittedly, nice. They walked through the woods first, taking care to notice every hole in the ground, every little nook in the tree bark, every branch they could hang the fleece on without anyone noticing. They agreed that they would have to move the fleece regularly, at least once a day, and that the woods should be the absolute last resort, because the last thing they wanted was for someone to notice it during a game of capture the flag. Then the jig would be up and Will and Nico wouldn’t get another chance to make it work, because no doubt the fleece would be heavily guarded.

Next, they checked the armory. Also not an ideal place to guard the fleece, but they played around with some of the weapons, and noticed a few things they might be able to move around the camp without people staring. And if they really needed to, they could always empty a chest of its weapons and shove the fleece on the bottom.

After that was the stables. Nico was admittedly starting to calm down around Will, once it was obvious that Will didn’t know that Nico was crushing on him. He kept catching Will glancing at him, but it was more with worry than amusement. Nico was kind of touched. He didn’t ever really remember anyone worrying about him before. Not just because. Not the way Will had.

They groomed the pegasi in the stables and cleaned them up somewhat, just because no one had seemed to do very much cleaning over the past couple of days. Once that was done, they looked at each other. “Should we try the cabins?” Will asked. “Like, obviously we can’t hide it in mine, or any of the other campers’ if they’re not in on this, and we don’t want anyone accusing someone else of stealing the fleece for themselves...”

“But we could always hide the fleece in one of the cabins that people  _ don’t _ use,” Nico said, nodding. “If we headed into Cabin One or Two, we might be able to get some good places to hide it, or at the very least, a way to ‘find’ the fleece at the very end of this whole thing.”

“Do we know who should find the fleece?” Will asked. “Like, obviously we want people to work together, but should we let a specific team find it? Or should one of us be the one to find it? Or what?”

“I...” Nico faltered. “I don’t know.”

Will shrugged. “I think it would be good if one of the teams found it, because that way they’ll realize it was their teamwork and not just dumb luck that lead them to it.”

“Yeah, but you also have to consider what happens afterwards. What if someone gets accused of taking the fleece, when it isn’t one of us? Someone who’s innocent? That would get really messy, really fast.”

Will winced. “Worst comes to worst, we could own up to it, but yeah, that really isn’t ideal.”

Nico ran a hand through his hair. “That’s the problem with people—they’re unpredictable. Someone could accuse someone else of stealing the fleece for whatever reason they pleased, and this whole feud would get ten times worse.”

“It’s not going to get better if we don’t try, though,” Will pointed out.

“I know, and I hate that,” Nico grumbled.

Will wrapped his arm around Nico’s shoulders in a lopsided hug and Nico felt electricity shoot through his veins. “We’ll figure something out,” Will said. “Let’s not worry about what happens after until we get to that point, okay? Let’s focus on right now.”

“Okay,” Nico sighed. “How are we going to steal the fleece off the tree?”

"It's going to have to be at night. If anyone can see us, we're done for. So either at night or when everyone else is busy, but night is probably our best bet." Nico nodded. "Should we tell Chiron what we're planning?"

Will considered. "I don't know," he allowed. "On one hand, he might be able to help, but on the other, if he doesn't want us doing it and we do it anyway, we're automatically in trouble."

Nico winced. "We probably shouldn't tell him, then. But he's going to go gray at this rate."

"Yeah," Will sighed. "I feel kinda bad about that, but we definitely need to do  _ something, _ and fast."

Nico nodded. "So should we sneak up there tonight? Say, eleven o'clock?"

Will shrugged. "That works. I'll see you then."

The grin he flashed Nico as he walked away left Nico's heart racing. He was going to try and stop a feud with his crush, running around in the middle of the night with him, trying to not get caught. The homoeroticism was  _ definitely _ going to drive him mad.

But he headed in the opposite direction of Will, taking a breath and running his hands through his hair to try and calm himself down. This was going to be fine. It was going to work. It  _ had _ to work. There was no telling what would happen if it didn't, but Camp Half-Blood could very well be burned to the ground with one wrong move by one of the hapless kids stuck in the middle of the feud.

_ You're doing this for them, _ Nico reminded himself.  _ You're doing this to make sure that they're safe, that they don't have to worry about making the wrong move. _

Zeus knows Nico had enough of those worries himself. He hated watching his words, watching his every move, making sure that what he said couldn't be used against him, that no one saw what he was doing when he thought he was in private. He knew that most people were okay with him being gay. Or at least, most people  _ around here _ didn't mind. But that didn't mean that old habits didn't die incredibly hard.

He was doing this so no one else had to. So that the others could breathe in peace. Not because he was getting to spend time with Will. Not because a cute boy was going to be meeting with him in the middle of the night, making sure that everything was okay.

...And he was going to tell himself that until he genuinely believed it.

That afternoon and evening passed in the blink of an eye for Nico. Before he knew it, it was eleven o'clock, and most people were in bed. Those who weren't were nowhere near the border.

Nico walked up to the border, hands in his pockets, shoulders slumped, looking for all the world like he usually did. No one spared him a glance as he walked towards the tree.

He saw Will jogging over to him from the corner of his eye, waving his arm in greeting but not saying anything. Nico nodded his acknowledgement. They walked up to the tree, and Nico blew out a breath. “Is it just me, or does this seem like a worse idea than before?” he asked.

“Not just you,” Will admitted. “There’s so many things that could go wrong if we did this. But we don’t have much of a choice.”

“I  _ know _ that,” Nico growled. “Doesn’t make me feel any better about this whole thing.”

“Hey,” Will said, putting a hand on Nico’s shoulder. “You don't have to go through with this if you don’t want to. I could do it by myself, or we could find another way to get everyone to talk to each other again.”

“But we don’t know how long that other way would take, and I’m not letting you get in trouble on your own for hiding the fleece,” Nico said sternly. “Listen, Will. I’ll do this. I won’t be happy about it, by any means, but I'll do it. You’ll just have to put up with me grumbling about it for ages on end.”

Will laughed, and the hair on the back of Nico’s neck stood on end. “I can live with that.”

Nico looked around, making sure no one was nearby or watching them, before he tore the fleece off of the limb it was resting on. “Hurry, we have to find a place to hide it!” Nico hissed.

The two of them bolted away from the tree, running deep into the woods before they stopped for breath. “Okay,” Will breathed. “Okay, the first twenty-four hours are probably going to be the hardest to hide the fleece. Where should we do it?”

“I can keep it in my cabin,” Nico said. “No one’s going to search it besides me, everyone else is creeped out the second they enter.”

Will nodded. “Sounds like a plan,” he said. “If anyone demands someone else search it, I’ll volunteer. They’ll trust me enough to believe me when I back you up.”

Nico nodded and together they walked back to the cabins. Nico hid the fleece underneath his jacket, having it zipped up halfway. No one spared them a second glance as they walked past. Will was rambling about nothing, clearly nervous to Nico. And yet, no one stopped them as they got to the cabins and went their separate ways. Nico stuffed the fleece under his mattress in the cabin and sighed. “What have I gotten myself into?” he muttered.

Shaking his head, he got ready to sleep and settled onto his mattress. He was exhausted, and he knew despite that, he wouldn’t be sleeping much tonight. He laid against his pillow, staring at the ceiling of the cabin. This was insane. This had to be the worst idea he  _ or _ Will had ever come up with. Sure, it was just crazy enough that it might work, but that was never a guarantee...

Nico woke up the next morning bolting upright in bed as a horn blared outside. He rubbed his eyes and got ready for the day, throwing on his jacket after making sure there was no fleece hair stuck in it, and stumbled out of his cabin. Chiron was outside, pacing around the cabins and asking kids questions. He didn’t seem quite  _ frantic, _ but he kept shifting on his hooves, clopping nervously against the ground and Nico knew that even if he wasn’t frantic yet, he would be soon.

Will wandered over to Nico and nodded his greeting. Nico nodded back. “Chiron is anxious,” Will said idly.

“Understatement,” Nico sighed. He felt a little bad. He hadn’t considered how Chiron might react to this development. It was his job on the line, after all.

Will nibbled his lip. “We didn’t think about how he might react,” he said lowly. “We...probably should have.”

“Yeah,” Nico said, scratching the back of his neck. “Too late now, though. Let’s just pray he never finds out what we did and that he won’t kick us out.”

Will nodded just as Chiron walked over to them. “Ah, boys,” he said. “You wouldn’t perhaps have seen the fleece, would you?”

“No, sir,” Will said.

“I thought it was still on the tree? Is that what this commotion is about?” Nico asked, biting back a yawn.

“Someone has stolen it,” Chiron said. “And if we’re not careful, the camp might get invaded.”

Nico’s stomach was swirling with anxiety and he forced himself to breathe, to try and avoid getting sick for just a while longer. This was ending up way worse than he had initially thought. If he wasn’t careful...

Will placed a reassuring hand on Nico’s shoulder, and Nico took another breath. He wasn’t alone. He had Will. And as terrifying as that should have been, right now, it was a comfort.

Chiron moved on from them with a simple warning to be careful and to keep an eye out, and Nico mumbled, “We really didn’t think this through.”

“It’s okay, Nico,” Will reassured him. “It’s going to be fine. So long as no one outside the camp realizes that the fleece is gone, they won’t bother us. There’s been no rumors of any monsters prowling just outside the camp, no one spending a long amount of time just hanging around and watching. It’s going to be okay. It  _ is _ okay. Because we know where it is. We can return it the moment something goes wrong, which I doubt it will.”

Nico nodded and tried to force the nausea down and away a while longer. As Chiron kept questioning kids, everyone who had already been spoken to was making their way to the Mess to eat. Nico and Will walked side-by-side, Nico resisting the urge to grab Will’s hand. Will probably didn’t like him like that, and even if he  _ did, _ he hadn’t consented to any form of touching other than friendly reassurance. The hand-holding would have to wait.

Nico was surprised when Will grabbed what he wanted to eat and instead of sitting with his brothers and sisters, sat across from the table with Nico. Will smiled at Nico’s questioning look. “What, a guy can’t sit at the same table as a good friend of his?”

“You  _ can,” _ Nico allowed. “But that doesn’t always mean you  _ should.” _

“What, am I supposed to be afraid of the consequences of sitting with you?” Will asked. “I’m not scared of anyone singling me out, Nico. Even if they did, which I doubt they would, it would be worth it because I get the time to hang out with you.”

Nico’s stomach flipped. He really,  _ really _ liked Will. And this wasn’t helping matters whatsoever. He was so focused on stopping the feud that he didn’t realize...Will was helping him, and as such, they would most likely be spending a lot of time with each other for the foreseeable future.

He was stuck with his crush for a while. Great.

The two of them ate in relative silence. Nico would occasionally feel his stomach churn uneasily or flip with butterflies if Will did something Nico liked. Which, of course, was almost everything, because Nico was head-over-heels. He  _ hated _ this.

As soon as Nico was done eating, he stood, and Will looked up, having a little of his breakfast left. “What, that eager to get away from me?” Will asked. His eyes were wide, and while Nico couldn’t see any hurt in them, the words he spoke had an undertone of disappointment.

“No, no, I just...” Nico wracked his mind for an excuse that would make this whole thing go away. He didn’t want Will to be hurt. That was the last thing he wanted. “I just want to make sure no one’s gone in my cabin.”

“No one has,” Will said. “Everyone besides you and me find it too creepy to enter.”

“Yeah, on a normal day,” Nico said. “Today is anything but a normal day.”

Will sighed through his nose. “Give me two minutes to finish breakfast and I’ll come with you?”

“I’d rather go now,” Nico said.

“Oh,” Will said, and this time, the hurt was clear on his face. “Okay. Want to meet up later today to talk?”

“Sure,” Nico said, even if he wanted anything but that. “When and where?”

“The lake at ten?” Will offered. “That’s one of the least busy times. We could have some time alone.”

The hair on Nico’s neck stood on end, and he glanced around. Sure enough, a couple kids from Aphrodite were making surreptitious glances at the two of them. “Sure,” Nico said, half an octave too high to be casual. “See you then.”

And as he turned and walked away, he could hear the gossip head to the rumor mill as kids tittered and tattled.

Nico couldn’t leave for his cabin fast enough. Anxiety swirled in his thoughts as he rushed forward, feet pushing harder and harder against the ground until he was running. He went to his cabin, closing the door just a hair too hard and sliding down to the floor. He crawled over to where he had hidden the fleece, making sure it was still secure, before trying to steady his breathing. Even after all this time, he was scared. The world had changed, true, but how much? There were still homophobes out there, running rampant and unchecked. If one of the wrong ones caught him with Will, he could get beaten and a couple things might wind up broken.

Gods, he was terrified. The fleece combined with his infatuation for Will continuing to grow made the whole situation nigh unbearable. He didn’t want to deal with this. He didn’t know  _ how _ to deal with this. Sure, the fleece might stop the feud, but then there was his infatuation to deal with. And how was he supposed to do that, exactly? He was going to be spending a lot of time with Will over the next couple days at least, probably longer if nothing went to plan and one of the cabins blamed another for stealing the fleece to prove a point—

No. No, he  _ had _ to stop thinking like that. This  _ had _ to work. If it didn’t, they’d just be completely screwed for the rest of the summer. And that was  _ not _ an option. It  _ had _ to work, because if it didn’t, then he had spent all this time being with Will focused on anything but his feelings for nothing.

That didn’t make him feel much better surrounding his anxiety, though. The worst-case scenarios continued to pop up, taunting him mercilessly. He tried to focus on his breathing, but his nerves were certainly not doing him any favors, and his mind kept wandering off.

“Stop it,” he growled to himself. “Get it together, Nico. You’re just spending a little time with Will. It’s nothing to worry about.”

He checked the time, and realized his panic attack had been going on longer than he thought. It was almost time to meet Will. He changed out of his jacket and normal attire and into a pair of swim trunks. When that felt too exposed, he put his jacket back on and zipped it up, so at least he didn’t have to worry through the walk to the lake. He could just worry about what might happen when he was actually there.

Nico got to the lake, and, not finding Will there, took off his jacket and decided that he was going to go for a swim. He could get back to the shore when Will was here, but for now, he was going to get out his anxiety through exercise.

When Nico dove under the water, something inside of him calmed. He thought about his old crush on Percy, but...it wasn’t at the forefront of his mind, and it wasn’t overwhelming him like it used to. His thoughts about Will also calmed considerably. He came up for air before he started swimming laps, watching the sun dance on the lake floor. He just focused on his breathing, the exertion of swimming, and the patterns the sun made.

He did two laps before he could spy anyone else at the shoreline, and he righted himself in the water, to find Will there. “Hey, Nico,” Will said, waving.

“Hey,” Nico said, walking out of the water. He got to waist-deep water before he realized that Will was staring. “What?”

“It’s nothing,” Will said, coughing. “I just...didn’t realize you work out.”

“Yeah, it helps with my nerves, and because of the feud, I’ve been doing it a lot lately...” Nico trailed off. “Is that...not what you were expecting?”

“No—I mean—yeah—I mean...” Will cleared his throat. “You just...look good. I kinda thought you’d be a little thinner. You don’t eat a lot—not in a bad way, I just—”

“I eat what I need to when my body gets hungry,” Nico said, feeling a little bit of amusement at seeing Will so obviously flustered...and flustered over  _ him. _ That was certainly unexpected. “So I’m not rail-thin, despite what most people think when I wear my oversized jacket.”

“You wear that thing into the heat of summer,” Will said with a little smile. “Honestly, I worry that you’ll die of heatstroke one day.”

“Nah, it takes more than a little heat to kill me,” Nico said with a shrug. “I’m tougher than that.”

Will gave him a once-over. “Clearly.”

Nico turned red. “Will...”

“Yes?” Will asked. “I’m just speaking the truth.”

“You can’t do that,” Nico said.

“Can’t do what?” Will asked. “Say the truth?”

“Not if you’re planning on embarrassing me,” Nico said.

“I’m not planning on embarrassing you,” Will said, taking his shirt off and walking into the water. “I’m  _ trying _ to compliment you, Nico.”

Nico’s heart started pounding and everything suddenly felt too hot. “Why?” he asked. “I’m just me, you know.”

Will chuckled a little. “That’s  _ exactly _ why, Nico.”

Nico’s cheeks turned into a forest fire. “Oh, gods,” he breathed. “I wasn’t ready for that.”

“Any way I can make it up to you?” Will asked, a teasing grin on his face.

The words were out of his mouth before Nico could stop them. “You could tell me whether or not you’re actually flirting with me.”

Will burst out laughing. “Gods, Nico, you’re really oblivious sometimes,” he gasped. “I’ve been flirting with you since the first day of summer! I like you, Nico. Like, a lot!”

“No, I picked up on the hints, I just...” Nico swallowed.

“You just...?”

“Didn’t dare to hope you genuinely meant it,” Nico admitted.

“Any way that I can prove to you I mean it?” Will asked, eyes trailing down to Nico’s lips.

Nico swallowed. “I think you have an idea already,” he said weakly.

“Yeah, but I want your permission,” Will said, taking Nico’s hand.

“Just...kiss me, you idiot,” Nico breathed.

The two moved closer together and Will held Nico around the waist while Nico’s hands held onto Will’s shoulders. He melted into the kiss. It was everything he had hoped for and more. It was like kissing sunbeams, and ice cold lemonade in the heat of summer. His heart was pounding out of his chest, but it was okay. Will was here, and he didn’t judge. Everything was going to be okay.

When they broke apart, there was cheering from behind Will. Nico turned red as he realized a mix of the Apollo kids  _ and _ the Aphrodite kids were watching them. “What are you looking at?!” he snapped.

“Hey, it’s okay, Nico,” Will promised. “They’re not going to hurt anyone.”

“It’s not them that I’m worried about,” Nico sighed.

“Well, anything that comes up, we can handle together, sound good?” Will offered.

“Yeah,” Nico said. “That sounds much better than handling it alone.”

Will offered Nico a brilliant smile, and Nico felt his breath be taken away, just a little bit. “You’re gonna have to stop doing that,” he said. “My heart can’t take it.”

Will laughed. “I’m never going to stop laughing and smiling so long as you’re with me, Nico. I promise.”

“Then what’s my heart supposed to do?” Nico asked.

Will shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said, as he turned to make sure the kids watching them were moving on. “Maybe it’ll get used to it.”

“I hope not,” Nico said.

Will offered Nico a shy grin. “Me too.”


	2. Chapter 2

Nico felt a lot of his anxiety about being seen with Will melt after that moment. If they were together, of course they’d be spending time around each other more often. If they snuck away from the groups when they were searching for the fleece, they were making out, they weren’t trying to move the fleece to a different location. He didn’t have to worry about Will getting blamed for stealing the fleece without him going down for it as well. And while most of the camp’s time was taking shifts looking for the fleece, Will and Nico were always a step ahead of them. They rotated through the cabins, they hid it in the forest, they kept it stashed in the armory.

And the funny thing was, their plan seemed to be working. When some of the Athenean kids were struggling with weapons during monster drills, Ares was helping them. Slowly, the Hermes kids and the Aphrodite kids used their mutual gossip to try and pinpoint where the fleece might be. But no one was suspecting Will and Nico, eavesdropping on the conversation from a few feet away and discussing which spots would be compromised from the gossip in low tones.

The first week was the hardest. Everyone was coming together, true, but they were searching in droves. Will and Nico would have to get up in the dead of night to meet up and move around the fleece, and even that wasn’t fool-proof. Nico was holding the fleece at one point, and Will was putting on his shirt after assuming that Nico would be fine with Will not wearing one since it was the middle of the night and no one in his cabin cared. Will heard someone coming, dropped his shirt, and forcibly shoved the fleece into Nico’s jacket just before a child of Ares came around the corner in the woods with a flashlight. “Oh!” they exclaimed upon finding Will and Nico. “Sorry, guys, I uh...thought I heard someone else sneaking around. Carry...carry on.” And with that, they quickly scurried away.

Nico stared after them a moment too long. “They didn’t...get in our faces about it?” he asked, thoroughly mystified.

“They were more embarrassed about catching us during what they thought was probably us making out than the fact that we were, y’know, making out,” Will said. “Homophobia is practically non-existent in this camp, Nico.”

“Used to be prevalent everywhere,” Nico muttered as Will finished putting his shirt on.

“Used to be,” Will assured him, gently taking the fleece out from under Nico’s jacket and climbing up one of the trees to stick it in the branches. “Times have changed, Nico. Hopefully for the better.”

“Yeah,” Nico said. “Hopefully.”

“Hey,” Will said, putting his hand on Nico’s cheek once he was back on the ground. “It’ll be okay, Nico. Our plan is working, right? And if someone finds the fleece a little early, then our plan worked still and people will slowly start getting along again. We’re making progress, both in relationship terms and in top-secret plan terms. Everything will work out.”

“How can you be so sure?” Nico asked.

Will shrugged. “I have faith in the two of us.”

Nico felt guilt gnaw at him. “More than I do,” he admitted.

“Maybe so,” Will allowed. “But I make up for what you lack, and with time we’ll balance out. That’s how I find most relationships go, anyway.”

“What if we’re not most relationships? What if our love fades?” Nico asked.

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, but it’s not a bad thing for love to fade over time. Haven’t you heard about the honeymoon phase?”

“I mean, yeah, but...what if it goes completely away?”

“I don’t think it will, Nico,” Will said. “I think that even if it does happen we’ll talk it over like adults and we’ll figure out what we want. And if that’s not each other then fine, that happens. But I don’t think that will ever be an issue.”

“But—”

“Nico, do you trust me?” Will asked.

“Yeah, of course,” Nico said without a second of hesitation.

“Then trust me on this: we will make it through. I fully believe that. And if you have doubts, that’s fine. But one day, I hope you can love me without those doubts coming back to eat away at you until there’s nothing left.”

“Okay,” Nico said softly.

“Okay!” Will chirped. “Now, do you want to go to your cabin and make out?”

Nico laughed a little. Yeah, Will was right. They’d figure it out. How could they not? They wanted it to work, so they’d put in the effort. That was the mature thing to do, wasn’t it?

Time went on. The next couple nights Will and Nico didn’t get caught in any position compromising or otherwise, and as the first week ended, the search was dulling down. It became obvious that it was not going to be easy to find the fleece, so the people who didn’t want to put in that much effort trailed off in their searching, instead working on fighting in case a monster breached the borders while the fleece was gone.

Will and Nico joined two different teams in looking for the fleece, Nico working with some of the people from Hephaestus and Demeter’s cabins, while Will was working with his brothers and sisters. “All right, everyone! Group one will be searching in the woods again, group two, the cabins! Get to it!” Chiron exclaimed.

Nico worked with one of the Hephaestus girls named Kira, and together they went into the cabins. Thankfully, Will and Nico had moved the fleece to the armory early that morning. “So, Nico. How are you and Will doing?” Kira asked.

“We’re all right,” Nico said. “Figuring out each other’s limits, what we’re comfortable with and what we’re not, and the kissing is nice.”

Kira laughed and Nico offered her a hesitant grin. He had never spoken with Kira before, but she seemed really kind. “I hear that a lot of couples are jealous of you two. They want what you two have. What’s the secret?” she asked.

“Well, we’re each a bit of a disaster,” Nico said. “So we state what we feel plainly and work through it together. Yeah, it’s a lot of work and communication, but clearly it must be worth it, if we’re the talk of the camp.”

“Yeah,” Kira said. “Would you ever be open to a double date? Benny and I have been looking for more romantic things to do together. At the very least, you and I might be able to exchange dating ideas.”

“I don’t know,” Nico laughed, mind travelling back to the few times he and Will had made out in the woods in the middle of the night while hiding the fleece. “It’s not just a matter of the right place, right time, you know? If you love this person, you  _ make _ the time they need. And that goes both ways. And if one of you only needs reassurance once a week and the other’s an attention whore—” Kira laughed at that, and Nico grinned, “—Then you compromise on what you need. Make sense?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Kira said. They walked into the Demeter cabin and Kira ran a hand through her hair. “This is gonna be so much work,” she groaned.

“I know,” Nico sighed. “It’s a shame that no one here seems to clean their beds. That would make everything a lot easier.”

Kira laughed and the two of them kept chatting throughout the search of the whole cabin.

“Advice for kissing?”

“Tongue only when asked. Never do it by surprise. Best time to sneak away from everyone else without getting looked for?”

“Any bonfire event ever, hands down. No one will look for you for a solid hour. Have you experimented with anything beyond kissing?”

“Not really, not ready yet. You?”

“No, same here.”

Nico and Kira determined that the fleece wasn’t in the cabin and by the time they walked out, Nico considered Kira at the very least a good acquaintance, if not a friend. He had never gotten super close to anyone at camp before, but he thought he could get used to it, if all he had to do was ramble about his boyfriend. Obviously, that wasn’t the only thing he’d do to everyone who ever came up and talked to him, but if that was an icebreaker, he might be able to make more friends real soon.

He walked to the training grounds and sat down in the grass, waiting for Will to finish searching the forest. Ares cabin was proving to Athena cabin which tactical strategies were best, via stabbing each other with blunt spears. Nico snorted as one kid brought out a rubber chicken, but startled when it breathed fire as it was squeezed. “No way!” one of the Ares kids exclaimed. “How the  _ hell _ did you get that to work?!”

They devolved into talk of crazy, unconventional weapons and what could and couldn’t be enchanted, and Nico felt someone walk up behind him. “Hey, Will,” he said.

“Hey,” Will said, sitting down next to Nico. “Do you think it’s time?” he asked.

“I think that no one’s going to get any friendlier than they already have,” Nico said.

“Agreed,” Will said. “Should we put it back on the tree?”

“Nah, that would be too conspicuous. They have people watching the tree line twenty four-seven, and I find it doubtful that we could get someone to look the other way to quietly put the fleece back up,” Nico said. “Why don’t we put it in the old oracle’s room in the attic? Chiron can’t get up there, but Dionysus might check there soon. We can leave a note about how the feud is resolved so we earned the fleece back. Leave it unsigned. People will wonder, but probably blame Zeus, because who else would do something that crazy and potentially dangerous?”

Will laughed. “You know what? That makes sense. That’s a great idea. Tonight, then?”

“It’s a date,” Nico said with a grin at Will.

Will snickered. “You know, if you say that enough, Nico, people will think we’re  _ actually _ dating.”

“We  _ are _ actually dating, you dork,” Nico said, shoving Will with a smile.

“I like it when you smile,” Will said with a happy sigh. “It’s nice. You never used to smile before.”

“Yeah, well, I save my smiles for the good times. That way they’re special,” Nico said. “And I didn’t always have much to smile about before.”

“But you’re finding reasons?” Will asked, putting a hand on Nico’s arm.

Nico went in for a peck on the cheek and said, “Yeah. I’m starting to find those reasons again.”

“That’s good,” Will said. “I would have hated for you to have no reasons for the rest of your life. That’s no way to live.”

“Agreed,” Nico sighed, getting a far-off look in his eyes. He missed Bianca, still. But he was finding reasons to smile beyond her, and oddly enough, he didn’t feel like he was losing her or disrespecting her memory by doing this.

“Can I ask you something, Nico?” Will asked.

“Sure,” Nico said.

“Do you ever wonder what life would have been like if you weren’t a demigod? If you were just...normal?” Will asked.

“...Yeah,” Nico admitted. “Sometimes. I would have gotten to see Bianca again, and I never would have had to deal with some stupid prophecy hanging over my head for most of my life. But if that had happened, I never would have met you. And to be honest, I kinda prefer getting to know you and being able to date.”

“Really?” Will asked skeptically.

“I was around for World War Two, Will. I would have died long before you were born had I not been in the Lotus Hotel. And I wouldn’t have been in the hotel had I not had that prophecy. So, yeah, I’d rather be a demigod than be a ‘normal’ human being. If only because I get to be with you.”

Will turned pink and blurted, “That’s kinda gay, Nico.”

“I know it is,” Nico said with a snicker.  _ “I’m _ kinda gay.”

“You’re not  _ kinda _ gay, you’re  _ super _ gay,” Will corrected.

Nico laughed. “Okay, you’ve got me there,” he teased. “I am  _ definitely _ super gay.”

“And don’t you forget it!” Will crowed.

Nico laughed. “I promise I won’t,” he swore. “And I won’t ever forget that I’m in love with you, either.”

The two of them hung out the rest of the day, and at dinner, when Will sat with Nico, Kira also came over. “Hey! Mind if I sit here?” she asked.

“No, go ahead,” Nico said.

Will did a double-take. “Since when are you okay with other people sitting nearby you?”

“Since I talked with Kira for a while today, and I can tentatively say we’re friends,” Nico said simply.

“I say we’re friends,” Kira said.

“See? There you go. Friends,” Nico said, a pleased grin on his face at Will’s shock.

“Wow, and all it took for you to open up was the fleece to go missing, and us to get together? Should have done this  _ years _ ago,” Will teased.

“Oh, shut up,” Nico said, flicking some water in Will’s face. “You’re still my favorite, there’s no need to get jealous.”

“Well, good. I wasn’t worried, but it’s good to know that you still love me the most,” Will said.

Nico laughed. “You’re such an egoist, sometimes,” he said, shaking his head.

“Yeah, but you love me,” Will said.

“Yes, I do,” Nico sighed. “Gods help me.”

Kira laughed. “You two are cute together,” she said. “I’m glad that you can be open with each other, that’s a good sign of a healthy relationship.”

“Yeah,” Nico sighed. “Honestly, I worry sometimes that we’re going to break up, but everyone seems certain that we’re together forever.”

“That’s because we’re willing to put in the effort to work together,” Will said, pointing his fork at Nico. “Don’t take that for granted, Nico. A lot of straight couples don’t do that.”

“Probably why they break up so fast,” Nico muttered.

Will howled with laughter and Kira giggled. Nico sent her a questioning look. “I’m bisexual,” she said. “I know about healthy communication, too.”

“Ah, okay,” Nico said. “I was a little confused because I thought you were straight. I would have assumed you’d be insulted by that.”

“Why? It’s true!” Kira exclaimed.

“I suppose you’re right,” Nico said, with a little grin. “Every joke has a kernel of truth to it.”

Kira let them be after lunch, though, so Will and Nico attempted to come up with a fool-proof plan to return the fleece. What they found wasn’t fool-proof, but it came pretty close. Chiron went to bed early enough, and they were going to take advantage of that to sneak up to the Oracle’s room and drape it over the arm of the old chair.

Will wrote the note, using his bad hand to make sure that no one could recognize it. They went to the bonfire that was being held that night, holding hands loosely at their sides. Nico had hope. He was hopeful that maybe, for once, things would turn out okay. He’d get to spend time with Will, and everyone at the camp would get along (as much as anyone in the camp ever could), and things would be...calm. Relaxed. He wouldn’t have to worry as much about who he spoke to, or what he did. He could just...be. And that freedom felt amazing.

He was smiling as he stayed up late by writing whatever came into his head until he heard a knock on his cabin door. He opened it and saw Will. “You ready?” Will asked.

Nico kissed his cheek and nodded. “Let’s end this.”

They went to the woods and unearthed the fleece from the small box they were keeping it in. “Crazy that all it took was impending doom for everyone to band together, eh?” Will asked with a laugh.

Nico chuckled, nodding. “You’d think that sometimes people could just  _ talk _ to each other, instead of their pride getting in the way, but noooo,” he said.

The two of them quieted as they passed the cabins, but stayed close together in the dark. Will was holding the fleece in his hands, and they crept up to The Big House. The steps up to the porch creaked, so they hopped onto the porch over the railing instead, making sure their footsteps were light. Nico picked the lock on the door and opened it slowly, and the two of them silently made their way to the Oracle’s room in the attic.

Will draped the fleece over the armchair and Nico pinned the note to it, and they shared a silent cheer. They had done it! The feud was over! And soon enough the camp would be back to normal!

They crept down the stairs and were almost out the door when a light turned on behind them. “And just  _ what _ do you two think you’re doing?” Chiron asked.

All of a sudden, Nico saw his future at the camp crash around him. If Chiron knew what they were doing, they’d surely be kicked out of the camp. They’d be left to fend on their own for the rest of the summer, fighting against monsters and mortals and everything in between. Nico wouldn’t be able to stay friends with Kira, and he doubted he’d be able to stay with Will. The two of them would be used as an example of what you shouldn’t do at the camp. The horrible atrocity they committed of putting every single demigod at the camp in danger.

Nico’s chest was getting tight and he wasn’t entirely sure he was seeing clearly. His mind was racing, racing, racing, trying to find any suitable explanation to wave away why they were sneaking into The Big House in the middle of the night. And he couldn’t find any.

Will’s hand was on his shoulder and he was being shaken slightly, but Nico couldn’t focus on him. He had to come up with an explanation, and fast. Chiron was still staring at them, waiting for an explanation. Will’s mouth was moving but Nico wasn’t registering anything he said as words. Will turned to Chiron, gesturing to the couch, and Chiron sighed, taking a step back.

Will guided Nico to the couch, and even though Nico couldn’t breathe, he thought it was awfully nice of Will to try and help and get Nico somewhere to sit. Will kept repeating the same thing over and over, probably asking if Nico was okay, if the shape of his mouth and his concern were anything to go by. Nico faintly said, “I think I’m fine,” before listing to the side dangerously as his vision went dark.

Will pulled him upright again and Chiron said something before moving out of the room quickly and returning with a glass of water. Will took it and held it to Nico’s lips, and the world went from silent, to ringing, to slightly static-y but ultimately understandable. He mumbled, “Thank you,” to both Will and Chiron.

“You never answered my question, boys,” Chiron said sternly.

Will and Nico looked at each other. Will was biting his lip, showing his nerves, and Nico knew he looked defeated. They had tried everything they could, and ultimately, they had failed to stay discreet. “We were...we were...” Will swallowed. “We were putting the fleece in the attic.”

The temperature in the room turned icy. “I see,” Chiron said. “And why, exactly, were you putting the fleece in the attic?”

“We wanted the search groups to find it tomorrow morning,” Nico said, feeling his body tremble with not only the aftershocks of a panic attack, but also at the genuine fear that Chiron was  _ calm _ in all of this.

“Boys, I’m going to ask this once, and if you do not give me an honest answer, I can’t guarantee that the two of you won’t go to Hades by the morning,” Chiron said, voice taut like an arrow with fury. “Did you steal the fleece?”

Will mumbled a soft, shameful, “Yes,” while Nico silently nodded.

Chiron pinched the bridge of his nose. “You do realize you endangered the entire camp by doing this? That there is no reasonable conclusion you can come to that would make this entire situation a little more sensible?”

“We wanted to stop the feud, and this was the easiest way we could see to do it,” Will said. “I won’t try and excuse our actions, because we  _ did _ endanger the camp somewhat. But we made sure no one had been keeping an eye on the camp waiting for an attack, and we knew where it was at all times.”

“And we couldn’t find it in the searches because—?” Chiron groaned.

“We kept moving it in the middle of the night,” Nico admitted. “And whenever one of us was searching in the area we had hidden it, we made sure that the other campers were distracted enough that they didn’t look too closely.”

“Boys...!” Chiron tilted his head up and groaned. “Gods help me, I could have lost my job over this! What you did was stupid and irresponsible, and I should kick you out of the camp over this!”

Nico’s breathing picked up again and Will put a hand on his shoulder. “Is there anything we can do to help convince you to let us stay?” Will asked.

Chiron shook his head. “I’m afraid not.”

“So you’re kicking us out?!” Nico blurted. His worst fears were actually coming true?!

“Allow me to finish,” Chiron said, holding up a hand. “While I  _ should _ kick you both out, I will not be kicking you out at this time. I understand that the two of you need protection as well as the rest of the camp, and that since you have returned the fleece, you are  _ technically _ no longer endangering the other demigods.  _ However. _ The two of you are on very. Thin. Ice. And while you do get to stay, one more infraction and we will be having a very long talk, debating whether or not you should be allowed to come back to camp next summer. Are we clear?”

Nico nodded. “Crystal clear,” he assured. “Trust me, Chiron, this will never happen again. It was a drastic measure for a drastic problem.”

“I wouldn’t call what happened a drastic problem...” Chiron said.

“You didn’t have to live through the politics of it,” Will said solemnly, causing Nico to cackle.

Chiron sighed. “I suppose I didn’t,” he allowed. “Still. Do not ever do this again, and don’t mention it to anyone else in the camp, understood?”

Nico and Will nodded.

Chiron nodded as well. “Good. Now go upstairs and retrieve the fleece, and put it back on the tree. I will explain away to the lookouts.”

“Sounds good,” Will said, nudging Nico as he stood up.

Nico got up as well and as Chiron left the Big House, Nico and Will went upstairs. “You okay, Nico?” Will asked.

“Yeah, fine now,” Nico mumbled. “Had a bit of a panic attack, but it’s nothing huge.”

“Is that likely to happen again?” Will asked.

“Not really,” Nico said, picking up the fleece.

“Serious?” Will asked.

“Yeah, Will. It’s not something that happens often anymore,” Nico said. “Why?”

“Well, if it happened again I wanted to be prepared,” Will said with a shrug.

“Prepared? How so?” Nico asked.

“Well, I’d want to know what I need to do to make sure you can get better faster, you know?” Will asked. “I’m just worried about you.”

“Really?” Nico asked skeptically. “That’s all you’re worried about?”

“That’s all,” Will promised. “I won’t leave you over a panic attack. I won’t leave you over any problems you may deal with whether or not I can help with them. The only way I’d leave you is if you wanted me to. Understand?”

“I guess,” Nico said slowly.

“You have no idea why I’d do that, do you?” Will asked with a smile.

“Not really,” Nico admitted.

“I just...care about you, Nico. A lot. And I want to make sure that no matter what happens, you’re safe. And if that means I need to be prepared for panic attacks, I’ll be prepared for panic attacks. If that means that I need to take care of you more closely, I can do that too.”

Nico swallowed as they walked out of the Big House. “You don’t know what you’re offering,” he said.

“Maybe not,” Will admitted. “But I’d like to learn, if you’re okay with it?”

“Once we return the fleece and I’ve had a good night’s sleep, sure,” Nico said.

The two of them hung the fleece back on the tree and Nico let out a sigh. It was like the entire camp could tell that the fleece had been returned. A few people were approaching from the cabins, and the wind seemed to blow gentler through the grass and the tree branches. Everything was returning to how it should be. Not just the campers, but the entire camp.

“I don’t know about you, Will, but I’m exhausted and I want to sleep,” Nico said. “Talk tomorrow?”

“You know it,” Will said with a wink. “I’ll help Chiron explain what happened to the other campers, depending on his story, okay?”

“Sounds good,” Nico said, waving and starting the trek back to his cabin.

He stumbled a little as he made his way back, but rather than avoiding him, a few campers asked if he was all right. He waved off their concern gently, and made his way back to the cabin, wondering what would come of tomorrow, the first normal day of camp in over a month.

The next morning, Nico walked out of his cabin and blinked in the sudden light. Almost immediately, he was swarmed by campers. “Chiron said that you and Will found the fleece last night, is that true?”

“Who took it?”

“Where was it?”

“How did you two find it?”

“Were you sneaking off to make out again when you found it?”

Nico turned red at the last question and lightly snapped, “Why don’t you ask Will, he was there too!”

“He said that he didn’t want to share any details without your permission,” a younger camper said. “Which means you  _ totally _ were making out, weren’t you?”

“Believe what you’d like,” Nico dismissed. “If Will doesn’t want to say, I won’t either.”

All the campers surrounding him groaned. He made his way to the Mess for breakfast but much to his confusion and mild irritation, the campers followed him. They kept lightly pressing for information, trying to sniff out at least where the fleece was, if not what Nico and Will were doing when they found it. Nico dodged every last one of their questions.

“Nico!” Will called from where he was sitting, waving him over.

Nico smiled, genuinely, and jogged over to Will, leaving the other campers to gossip. “Looks like you’ve got groupies,” Will teased.

“Eh, they’ll realize I’ll never tell the true story about the fleece eventually and get bored,” Nico said with a shrug. “Not a big deal.”

“Chiron painted us to be the heroes of Camp Half-Blood when we found the fleece,” Will said in a low whisper.

“What?” Nico asked. “I thought he would be too mad at us to do that.”

“He told me after all the campers had returned to the cabins that he was relieved the feud was over, even if he didn’t agree with our methods. He didn’t know what would make the kids stop fighting, because most of it was the younger teens being stupid and stubborn.”

“Ah, yeah, younger teenagers can be stubborn sometimes,” Nico laughed.

“Yeah. And he was trying to figure out what to do about it when the fleece went missing, and he had the same idea we had: use the fleece going missing to create team exercises that the kids could use to get over each other.”

“Nice,” Nico said. “So at least part of our plan had common sense?”

“Don’t tell Chiron that, but yes,” Will said with a grin.

“Awesome.” Nico grinned.

“Isn’t it just?” Will said with a brilliant smile.

“What are you two lovebirds chatting about?” Kira asked, sitting down next to Nico. A guy that Nico vaguely recognized sat down next to Will.

“Just how the fleece has been returned, nothing in particular,” Will said.

“It’s nice to have it back, isn’t it? Everything feels a little safer with it,” Kira said. “And I’m glad that stupid feud ended. It was giving Benny and I a headache whenever we were trying to meet up. We wanted to stop it, but didn’t know how.”

“Apparently mortal danger does the trick,” Nico joked.

Kira laughed in shock. “I guess you’re right,” she allowed. “You don’t mind Benny and I sitting here, do you? I was hoping we could introduce you to our friend group after breakfast.”

“I have no problems with that,” Will said. “Nico?”

Nico’s answer surprised himself. “Sure, why not?” he asked. “I could use some more friends around here, I suppose.”

“Great!” Kira exclaimed. “So there’s a couple kids in there that you need to know to look out for because they have a temper, but everyone is overall really accepting and sweet—”

“—Yeah, and some of them are really good mediators, but hate having to solve all the conflicts, so the two of you might be called upon to help listen to the situation and decide who’s right,” Benny added. “It’s not a huge right-or-wrong deal, usually it’s just finding a compromise that neither side hates.”

“Right. And some of our friends are shy to newcomers in the group, but those are the ones you really want to make friends with, because they’ll defend you to their dying breath. They’re also fantastic at their hobbies. I know Logan adores magic tricks, and Avery has been making friendship bracelets since he could tie knots...”

And as Nico and Will nodded along to everything that Kira was saying, and letting Benny interject with his own two cents occasionally, Nico knew that everything was going to be all right. Maybe, just maybe...everything was all right already, and he was just finally learning to see it.

**Author's Note:**

> Any and all comments are welcome!


End file.
